On the Waterfront

Launching of "Florence", South Bristol, 1894

Shipbuilding, fishing, and lobstering have been the lifeblood of those who called South
Bristol home.

The birth of major shipbuilding in South Bristol can be attributed in large part to the Gamage family, especially brothers Albion and Menzies Gamage, who began building large wooden sailing vessels in the early 1850s and who over the next 50 years built more than 88 sail and steam boats.